Located on Veterans Memorial Highway, this low-key Mexican restaurant features a stacked menu that includes everything from chimichangas and taco and enchilada plates to tortas, tostadas, bistec ranchero, and glass goblets filled to the brim with shrimp cocktail. For people who crave heat, make sure to order the diablo sauce for dipping chips and garnishing tacos. Wash it all down with a margarita.

Regulars to this Marietta Mexican restaurant tout the friendly service, not to mention the food and margaritas and mojitos from the bar here. Start off with the aptly named El Trio, a trio of guacamole, queso, and salsa paired with fresh chips. Next, order the braised pork burrito, carne asada plate served with rice, beans, and corn tortillas, or the chorizo torta garnished with lettuce, tomato, and pickled jalapenos. The restaurant also includes a selection of breakfast dishes.

Nuevo Laredo has been a longtime staple for residents of the surrounding neighborhoods of Underwood Hills, Bolton, Berkeley Park, and Blandtown. Serving a menu filled with Mexican comfort foods and margaritas, the Cantina’s compact parking lot is always full from the time the doors open until the restaurant closes for the day. Expect everything from loaded nachos, tortas, huevos rancheros, and enchiladas to tamales, fajitas, chalupas, and even lobster tacos on the menu at this northwest Atlanta favorite.

Located at the bustling Beacon complex in Grant Park, this Mexican restaurant owned by Roxana and Octavio Aguirre (El Mexicano), features a menu filled with street tacos, fajitas, ceviche, and weekly specials paired with some of the best margaritas in town. Kick off the meal on the large sunny patio with queso mixed with jalapeños and chorizo. 

Folks in the south metro would be wise to check out this Jonesboro Mexican restaurant institution serving a taste of Oaxaca on its menu. This includes the restaurant’s popular tlayuda — a pizza-like dish that sees a toasted tortilla topped with refried beans, cheese, choice of meat, and lettuce. Beyond the Oaxacan specialities found here, there’s also plenty of tacos, tamal plates, and dishes like chile relleno, bistec ranchero, and goat barbacoa served with rice and beans.

Boasting one of the best patios on Ponce, and with some seriously strong (but delicious) margaritas, El Ponce is a frequent spot for friends gathering for Mexican food any day of the week in Atlanta. Family-owned and operated, the taqueria serves taco plates with a choice of rice and beans or elote (Mexican street corn), overstuffed burritos, Oaxacan-style tamales, and a super satisfying chicken mole enchilada plate. Wash it all down with a margarita or a freshly made horchata. Make sure to also try the Valentina wings and chimichanga at El Ponce.

With locations in Forest Park and College Park, Taqueria Don Sige serves what regulars to this restaurant say are the best tacos around town. Try the tripe, cabeza, or lengua tacos here or one of the torta sandwiches on the menu.

Sinaloan-style chicken restaurant Pollo Primo, owned by chef Duane Kulers of Supremo Taco, took over the former Bento Mac Hibachi Box Wings and Sushi space in East Atlanta in 2022. The straight-forward menu here features quarter, half, and whole roast birds marinated in morita chile, citrus, and a selection of spices served with fresh tortillas and paired with sides like rice and beans, street corn, chicken soup, and churros. Meals come in individual and family-sized portions. Look for aguas frescas and horchata, as well as margaritas and beer on the drinks menu.

There’s no shortage of great Mexican food spots along Buford Highway, but La Pastorcita might be one of the best restaurants to sit down and enjoy a plate of freshly made tacos, chilaquiles, flautas, and ceviche tostadas paired with an ice cold beer and soccer on the television. Open late.

A Buford Highway institution, Plaza Fiesta is filled with over 140 retail shops and a food court offering everything from tortas, tamales, goat barbacoa, and tacos to classic Mexican seafood dishes, and even Venezuelan fare. There’s a stall serving fresh juices and a farmers market here, too. Grab food from multiple stalls at Plaza Fiesta to create a festival of dishes for the table.

Named in honor of his late father, Jesús Oñate Jr. opened Antiguo Lobo (“old wolf”) in 2021, taking over a former antiques store in historic downtown Chamblee. The restaurant features dishes on the menu representing multiple regions around Mexico, including Molcajete El Monstruo served in a volcanic rock mortar, enchiladas verdes, and cochinita pibil as well as street corn, aguachile, and tacos. As a trained tequila expert and certified master mezcalier, Oñate Jr. created a cocktail list that rivals the food at Antiguo Lobo, which centers on margaritas and other agave-based drinks.

Just follow the fragrant column of smoke rising above this family-owned and operated restaurant serving Sinaloan-style chicken on the menu. Order half and whole roasted birds with sides of rice and beans and fresh flour tortillas. Make sure to order extra hot sauce, which comes as mild, medium, and very hot. The dining room often fills with people eating platters of roasted chicken and grilled steak while also watching soccer. There’s even menudo served at Sinaloense Pollo Asados on the weekends.

This Norcross marisqueria opened in 2011 serving everything from giant platters filled with shrimp, crab legs, and lobster to whole red snapper rubbed in chile marinade. For something truly indulgent, order the la piña rellena — a broiled, half pineapple stuffed with grilled seafood and topped with melted cheese. There’s a second location on Buford Highway in Crossroads Village.

Featuring a menu filled with regional dishes found throughout Mexico, regulars to this family-owned and operated restaurant in Duluth swear by the food and friendly service here. Begin a meal at Alebrije Mexican Cuisine with a few shared appetizers, like the jicama Baja tacos topped with lime habanero slaw or a sizzling bowl of queso fundido with spicy chorizo. Next, order the slow-cooked cochinita pibil, Alebrije shrimp drizzled with tamarind mezcal chipotle sauce, or the puntas al mezcal, beef tips cooked with cactus, pasilla peppers, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. Make sure to also order the crepas con cajeta or espresso flan for dessert and either a tamarind margarita or frozen passionfruit margarita to drink.

Located in a small shopping complex on Old Peachtree, La Mixteca Tamale House specializes in Oaxacan dishes, like tlayudas or picaditas topped with cheese crumbles and salsa, along with some seriously righteous tamales. The pizza-like tlayudas are topped with everything from mole con huevo to carne asada and chapulines (dried grasshoppers). But the tamales on the menu at this restaurant are not to be missed, and come in sweet and savory varieties served individually or as plates. Order a cold Modelo and dig in.